Recognize and Embrace the Power of Employee Feedback
In recent years, multiple factors have converged to create a labor market full of challenges for employers seeking to locate and retain top talent. Employee engagement expert Jim Barnett states that these factors consist of emerging technologies, increased competition among employers, and changing needs regarding skills and expertise. He also states that the key to winning this competition is to seek out employee feedback and then make changes accordingly.
Unfortunately, many employers are too quick to incorporate outside methods employed by other organizations. They see strong retention levels within businesses that offer employees free catered lunches or access to a fully-stocked coffee bar. This leads to an assumption that the key to employee engagement is to incorporate such methods.
This is simply untrue. While employees doubtlessly enjoy such perks, employers should be investigating the unique needs within their own organizations, rather than relying on methods implemented by other employers. Company leadership should seek out feedback from their own employees about what the company can do to keep them engaged.
However, there are a few core areas of engagement that employers may commonly encounter. Barnett points to research showing that among millennial workers, top engagement priorities typically consist of:
- Learning and professional development opportunities
- Access to affordable health benefits
- Diversity and inclusion
- Workplace flexibility
- Authentic company leadership
The above factors can be a great starting point for organizational leaders who are beginning to consider how to best engage and retain good employees. Leaders should then follow this up by connecting with employees and providing them with opportunities to provide honest feedback about their role within the company.
Company leaders should be intentional about having discussions with employees about what the company can do better. Employers must then follow up these discussions with tangible actions that acknowledge, address, and fulfill the needs expressed by employees. Such actions will clearly demonstrate that they are valued.
In speaking of the positive effect of this process, Barnett says, “once leaders and managers get over the initial fear of hearing their employees’ opinions regularly and seeing how engagement is connected to individual and company performance, they dive head-first into leading productive conversations about the environment they’re creating on their teams. This proactive approach creates a feedback loop from manager to employee, spurring course-corrections and boosting transparency and authenticity.”
Employers who authentically and effectively engage their employees are going to win when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. An organization should seek out feedback from its own employees so as to create and implement solutions that are tailored to organizational needs.
About the Author
Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
